


law and disaster

by indemnis



Category: K-pop, Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Lawyers, Alternate Universe - Office, M/M, if i screw up everything to do with terms and definitions and legal stuff i'm sorry!, im really clueless at the legal system please help
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-25
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2018-12-06 15:37:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11603610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/indemnis/pseuds/indemnis
Summary: Minhyuk is starting out as a junior associate at one of the Big 4: Son & Chae Partners, and he blames his amazing ex-barista coffee-making skills, because somehow he's signed up to be managing associate Yoo Kihyun's temporary secretary instead of an actual lawyer.





	1. concrete jungle

**Author's Note:**

> me: don't start another chaptered fic you have a few wips still--  
> me @ me: poST THIS THING YOU'VE BEEN SLOGGING AT FOR A FEW WEEKS NOW even if it's nowhere near completion and you have no idea how to develop plots  
> me: fml
> 
> seriously all my fics from now should be labelled 'a pun of every possible book/show there is out there'

It’s Minhyuk’s first day at Son & Chae Partners as a junior associate, and it’s a bit of understatement when he says he’s frightened. The legal world, according to his university seniors, is a bit of a jungle, and Minhyuk is but a tiny puppy, lost, clumsy, and often times silly.

Don’t get me wrong; Minhyuk’s very talented as a lawyer. He obtained his certificate to practise and completed his law degree with First Class Honours, having the whole array of law firms laid out for him to choose from, but he chooses Son & Chae, because it’s close to where he lives, and because the Legendary Chae Hyungwon™ is a partner at the firm.

It’s safe to say Minhyuk is here to see how the mighty titan of the law sector, the one name they keep bringing up in lectures, blows everyone off their feet. He’s heard too much of the man, sure, but he’s never met him, and surely his aura is overpowering. Minhyuk shakes the thought out of his mind.

The lift dings when he reaches his floor, Storey 4, and he steps out, sees the big words on the wall: SON & CHAE PARTNERS, and he feels an excited shiver run down his spine. The office is huge, and he remembers that the firm takes up four storeys out of the six in the building, vast space and people walking around, minding their own business. Minhyuk feels tiny in this place, but he presses his lips together and moves on.

“Um, hi?”

A lady sits by the desk closest to him, and she looks up at him with tired eyes, but as soon as she sets eyes on him, she blinks strength back into them. “Oh, hello. How can I help you?”

“My name is Lee Minhyuk. I’m a junior associate and today’s my first day. I think I was supposed to report to a… Miss Jung Minyoung?”

“Oh,” she says, with a wide smile on her face now. “That’s me. Hi, Minhyuk, welcome to Son & Chae.”

Minhyuk grins, an impish one that his friends remind him is childlike and a little playful, and he shakes her hand. “Thank you.”

*****

He’s being sat in a large conference room, alone, and he’s looking around, glancing out of the glass walls, glass doors, and sees heads moving around swiftly, people with places to be. He picks at his fingernails, wondering if they’ve forgotten about his existence, when there’s a resounding knock on the door, and there’s a boy walking his way in.

“Uh, um, hi. Are you the boss guy?” He asks in a baritone voice, and Minhyuk pulls the strap of his satchel bag forward and the bag falls into his lap.

“Nah, not the boss guy. The new guy.”

“Oh,” The boy’s expression lightens up almost immediately when he realises that he’s not his superior, and he rubs his palm against his blazer before stretching an arm out to Minhyuk. “I’m New Guy Number Two. My name’s Im Changkyun.”

He shakes his hand. “Lee Minhyuk.” He smiles, noting the way Changkyun looks like he’s braved a hurricane to get to work, and asks him how his morning has been.

Changkyun rolls his eyes at the question and starts an impromptu rap about how _impossible_ his morning had been, terribly eventful, really, and it even started to rain, can you believe it? Changkyun tries to smoothen his blazer out and whatever he can with his crumpled trousers, and Minhyuk offers to straighten his tie for him, at which Changkyun reveals an eye smile and thanks Minhyuk for his help.

There’s a knock on the door as Minhyuk tidies Changkyun’s fringe for him this time, and they both look up to find a man with blonde curly hair standing there, no bag slung on his shoulder, just a pile of documents in his hands. Minhyuk stares, and he can hear the way Changkyun’s breathing intensifies. This may be Boss Guy himself.

“Um, Lee Minhyuk, Im Changkyun?”

“Y-yeah.” Changkyun replies, like he isn’t sure if he is indeed Im Changkyun, the pressure overwhelming.

Blonde-haired man walks in with the documents and closes the door behind him before grabbing a seat opposite them. He bangs the paperwork on the table and they jump, and blonde-haired man apologises, shrugging as he unbuttons his blazer to sit.

“So, which one’s Lee Minhyuk?”

“Me.”

He takes a quick look at Minhyuk. “Okay, brunette that looks nervous. And Im Changkyun?” He looks pointedly at the other man, who raises a timid hand.

“Um, here.”

“Okay, black-haired boy with the crumpled suit. Cool.”

Changkyun is flushing red, and blonde-haired man just chuckles. “You two look like I’m about to eat you up alive.”

Minhyuk gulps, a dry patch in his throat. “Don’t worry, I’m not anyone important. My name’s Lee Jooheon and I’m Mr. Son’s personal associate. The recruitment manager, Minyoung—you guys have met Minyoung I suppose?” Two affirmative nods. “Okay. Minyoung’s a little busy with the new guys coming in for their PLTs so I’m here to get you two to sign off some stuff. You can breathe now.”

Changkyun exhales shakily, and Minhyuk lets go of the small piece of flesh on his thigh he’s been pinching the whole time, and they laugh, Jooheon’s eyes turning into slits and dimples denting into his cheeks.

It’s the usual stuff: initialise on some corners, employment confirmation letters, here are the times you come in to work and this is how much you get paid, what you do here, how many clients you’ll normally take, the information spilling from Jooheon’s mouth is never-ending, and both Minhyuk and Changkyun are evidently having trouble catching up.

Jooheon chuckles when Changkyun sighs as he flicks to the next page of the orientation programme, his eyes scanning the words quickly, a habit he’s grown since law school. “I think we all need a coffee break. I’ll show you guys around the area along our way to the pantry?”

“Yeah, that’ll be nice.” “Yes, _thank you_.”

Changkyun shares a knowing glance with Minhyuk and they laugh breathlessly, fortunate that Jooheon is nothing like their grilling lecturers who think coffee breaks are for the weak.

Jooheon is making spins around desks, saying hi to everyone when they bother to lift their heads to look at him, listening intently when he delegates tasks that Mr. Son wants completed.

“Daehyun, that document needs to be looked over again, okay?”

“Yes, Mr. Lee.”

And then there’s the smile that feels like a hundred suns, and Minhyuk just finds the need to smile along. He and Changkyun bow repeatedly at every desk they go to, introducing themselves as the new junior associates, please take good care of us. Self-introduction in itself is a chore, so when they finally reach the pantry, both Changkyun and Minhyuk look relieved.

Jooheon just laughs. “It’s a pretty taxing start, I’m sorry, that’s just how things are in a busy firm; everything needs to be quick, fast, efficient.”

Changkyun snickers. “Sounds like something my prof says.”

Minhyuk turns around to look at Changkyun and starts asking where he had graduated from, which firm he did his PLT at, and they engage in a conversation so deep they don’t realise that a fourth person has joined them in the pantry.

“Kihyun.” Jooheon acknowledges, bowing to him as he speaks.

The man he calls Kihyun is a man that’s about as tall as Changkyun, which means he’s a little shorter than Minhyuk, his hair jet black, with his tie to match, and a suit in a shade of dark blue. He looks smart, struts in with his chin high, and Minhyuk cowers from his presence almost immediately.

“Jooheon.” He greets back, nodding his head in recognition, and he opens the cupboard above him, picks out a mug that has the firm’s name on it, and in smaller font, ‘Yoo Kihyun’ written beneath it.

“Your secretary not here to pick up your coffee for you?” Jooheon asks, sipping on his own mug of espresso as he does.

Kihyun shrugs, pressing his lips together. “She’s gone on maternity leave since last week. The coffee I make tastes funny. Also, it’s a lot of trouble.”

Jooheon chuckles and Kihyun finally realises that there are two other unfamiliar faces in the pantry and nods at them as well. Minhyuk is slightly intimidated, but he needs to keep his manners.

“H-hi, I’m the new junior associate. My name is Lee Minhyuk.”

Changkyun is looking like a lost child and latches onto Minhyuk’s start, bowing as he says his greetings. “And I’m Im Changkyun.”

Kihyun nods again as they both bow deeply to him, going so far as a crane of the neck. “Um, Yoo Kihyun. Managing Associate.” He opens the tin of instant coffee and dumps in four heaps of coffee powder, Minhyuk made aware that this man knows next to nothing about making coffee, and that it should be no surprise that the coffee he makes _tastes funny_.

Minhyuk’s mind draws out a hierarchy of the whole firm, aware that Kihyun is a good two ranks above him, and his bow deepens. It’s a habit of his, to always be hyperaware of relationship and rank differences and always making sure that he jokes around with people he can joke around.

He’s gotten into a lot of trouble for making fun of seniors when they obviously weren’t the kind to enjoy a good joke, and their seniority had managed to shave off a good amount of thoughtless goofing around.

It wasn’t a bad thing—if anything, it could only be helpful to his introduction into the corporate world, but it also made him look like a sycophant, where he only afforded to be overly polite to his seniors, and let loose with his friends. He didn’t want to be a bootlicker; he just didn’t want to offend.

It was strange to consider this shorter man as someone who was so much more superior in his corporate position—he looked so young—and Minhyuk wonders how long it’ll take him to sit in Kihyun’s place. Probably many many years to come.

“Oh yeah, congrats by the way. About your promotion,” Jooheon chirps, and Minhyuk _swears_ he sees Kihyun puffing up his chest, not unlike a schoolboy who got a gold star sticker on his recent assignment.

“Thanks,” is the reply that comes as a half-muffle as Kihyun’s lips are pressed against his mug, taking a sip and grimacing at the bitterness that hits him right in the face.

“I don’t know how she does it,” he mutters suddenly, and Jooheon’s gaze is trained on him, obviously not expecting a full-blown conversation. “How does she even make my coffee? This tastes like crap.”

Jooheon just stares, and Minhyuk doesn’t know if it’s his place to pipe up, but he does anyway.

“Do you—” he starts, and he sees the panic in Changkyun’s eyes, like he’s advising him to step away from the _managing associate_ , but Minhyuk shrugs it off, noting the way Kihyun’s eyes are bright and staring at him in anticipation.

“Do you normally take it black? People normally don’t do so well with black coffee.”

He thinks he sees Kihyun almost scowl, but the man reins himself in and controls his expression expertly. “I take it black. Think I would know the difference between coffee with milk and coffee without.”

Minhyuk pulls his lips together, like he’s genuinely in deep thought, considering the reasons why Kihyun’s coffee tastes horrible. “That was four whole heaps of coffee powder. With the water only halfway through the mug.”

Kihyun hikes an eyebrow, his whole face seems to be pulled upwards along with it, and it’s a little comical to look at. Minhyuk scratches the back of his neck and picks up one of the unnamed mugs, opening the tin and scooping two levelled teaspoons of coffee powder, and fills the mug three quarters full, decides to just wing it, and throws in a teaspoon of white sugar as well.

He stirs, slowly, and Kihyun is looking intently as his hands move, Jooheon and Changkyun’s attention long dissipated, and they’re now gossiping within themselves about the firm and the partners. Minhyuk thinks Changkyun already has a gist of which paralegal hooking up with which associate.

The whirls sit in the middle of the mug and Minhyuk throws the teaspoon into the dishwasher before pushing the mug to Kihyun, the black-haired man looking at the mug, then at him, wary.

Minhyuk laughs. “You saw me make it. Didn’t poison it or spit in it.”

He thinks Kihyun might be a little flustered at the playful accusation, but there is a steel mask on his face once more. His slender fingers wrapped around the mug, and he throws the newbie another glance before he puts it to his lips.

Kihyun’s eyes widen, almost subconsciously, and Minhyuk feels like he can finally breathe again. The mug is less than half full when Kihyun pulls the mug away, and the ends of his lips press together tightly as he looks at the brunette in admiration.

“Tastes pretty damn good,” he says, and Minhyuk can feel Jooheon and Changkyun’s interest pique at his compliment, so he just opts for a bashful chuckle.

“I worked as a barista for a bit during our break after high school, before uni. Freshly grinded coffee would taste so much better, but hey, gotta make do with what I have.”

Kihyun looks like he’s plotting something; Minhyuk can almost _hear_ the cogs in his head turning, and true enough, the black-haired man directs an enquiry to Jooheon. “These junior associates. Did Hyunwoo say anything about getting people to mentor them?”

Jooheon shakes his head. “He’s planning to take one, because for once he suddenly cares about the people we hire,” Jooheon rolls his eyes as he says this, and Kihyun nods, attesting to Hyunwoo’s general nonchalance, “and with the other, he was going to ask all the senior and managing associates to see if anyone would be willing to take one.”

Kihyun inhales loudly, and Minhyuk is holding his breath. “Did he say which one?”

The blonde-haired man shakes his head again, and Kihyun just bobs his head up and down just slightly, as if pondering a proposal that was never sent his way. Jooheon’s eyes widen as he comes to the sudden realisation that Kihyun’s planning something, and he knows exactly what it is.

“Oh. Oh, Kihyun, please.”

“What?” Kihyun asks, stance defensive as he sips on the coffee Minhyuk has made.

“I know you hate the whole recruitment process, but what you need is a secretary. These boys are here to learn how to be lawyers. You can make your own coffee for a few months, eh?”

“No one said anything about anyone,” Kihyun denies vehemently, but his argument is crumbling and he can’t hold Jooheon’s gaze for longer than two seconds at any one time.

“ _Hyung_.”

The more affectionate name-calling strikes a nerve in Kihyun as the older man sighs, clearly stressed out over the lack of an administrative assistant-cum-coffee maker, somehow knowing that it’s pointless to press his case with Jooheon when he’s being ‘ _hyung_ ’ed at.

His gaze is wavering but his voice is challenging. “Hyunwoo is going to ask if any of the senior and managing associates want to mentor a junior. You do realise I’m part of this surveyed group, right?”

Jooheon throws him a dirty look, even if they’re in the office and even if Kihyun is two whole ranks ahead of him in the firm. Minhyuk has a feeling that Kihyun isn’t going to be like one of his oppressive seniors who find a need to wield seniority at any possible living moment, at least when he gets to know him better. For now, he remains an intimidating superior who could determine where he goes and what he does.

“You won’t stop at anything to get what you want, will you, you scheming bastard?” Jooheon spits, zero hostility, mostly resignation.

Kihyun grins, a child-like one that lights up his entire face, eyes turning into crescents and a hint of dimples near his eyes, denting into his soft skin.

“You don’t walk around being the highest earning associate in Son & Chae without being a little tenacious, sweetie.”

Jooheon groans. “You’re going to use your billables to get what you want.” It’s a dull statement, like it’s not a surprise, like he knows how things will play out.

“And Chae will give me what I want,” Kihyun admits, finishing Jooheon’s sentence for him, sporting a smirk that really shows how full of himself he is. Jooheon looks tiredly at him, then apologetically at Minhyuk.

“Looks like you’ve struck gold, rookie. Yoo Kihyun isn’t going to let it rest until he gets to mentor you.”

“You say it like it’s a bad thing,” Kihyun plays a silly game of tug-of-war with Jooheon, who has no intention to frolick.

Jooheon deadpans, narrows his eyes. “Is it not, though?”

Minhyuk is looking at the both of them nervously, the ball thrown into Jooheon’s court one second, then ricocheting into Kihyun’s in the next, eyes darting from one to the other.

“Sometimes when I hear you talk about Mr. Chae like that, I wonder if he’s your boss, or if you’re his boss,” Jooheon comments, and Kihyun pretends that it isn’t a jab at his lack of respect.

“Whoever tops in billables is the boss. Chae is my side hoe.”

Minhyuk’s eyes widen at the label, but Jooheon doesn’t seem to be bothered. It seems that they’ve talked about this plenty, before his and Changkyun’s entrance.

Jooheon scoffs. “It’s only because you do corporate and he does criminal. You _know_ that.”

Another noisy slurp. “Doesn’t counter the fact that my billables are impressive.”

The blonde associate frowns, contempt in his eyes, Minhyuk wondering if he’s stepped into a landmine, and he can’t wait to get out. “I wonder why Mr. Son and Mr. Chae keep you around.”

Kihyun smiles, cocky, very hot. “Told you Chae’s my side hoe. Everyone wants me around.”

“Well, take my word for it,” Jooheon scorns, “It most definitely has little to no relevance to your personality or your _tenacity_ , as you'd like to say."

Minhyuk thinks Kihyun scowls, but the black-haired man just bursts into laughter, and Jooheon is glaring at him, Kihyun’s laughter ringing through the pantry, turning a few heads from the unfortunate staff members located near them. His laughter is high-pitched, like a small puppy barking in delight, eyes disappearing into crescents again.

"You." Minhyuk is suddenly aware that the black-haired male is speaking to him, so he bows in acknowledgement and awaits the enquiry, his fingertips tingling.

"Do you have a specialisation?"

Minhyuk stutters, less smooth and intelligent than he would like to sound, and the words stumble out, Minhyuk tripping on his way. "U-um, criminal law."

Kihyun clicks his tongue in obvious displeasure, and Minhyuk senses the change in atmosphere. "Um, but um, I sub-specialised in corp law. I took a lot of electives and specialisations to fast-track my degree. And um, yeah."

"What do you think of corp law?" Kihyun asks, small sips of his coffee now, like he's savouring the last bits of it, but he could probably just get Minhyuk to make another, if he really wanted to.

"Quite cool. I would love to learn about as many of the specialisations as possible."

Kihyun laughs, a little mean. "You've already passed the interview. You don't have to impress anyone here." Minhyuk frowns; he's not trying to  _impress_ anyone, he just wants to learn as much as he can, and hopefully in a decade from now, he'll be good enough to make partner, or to open his own firm.

"Mentorship rotates every year for you guys to try your hand at most things anyway. Until you guys decide what you want to specialise in, at least."

"Well, I think corp law is pretty interesting." Minhyuk doesn't know what the correct answer is, but he seems to have done it wrong, because Kihyun puts his mug down and beams, clasps his hands together in glee. "Brilliant." Jooheon is groaning in the corner.

“Well, I’ll be waiting to hear the good news from you, Jooheon-ah.” The shorter man nods at him and picks up his near-empty mug, stalking back to where he came from, which Minhyuk assumes was his office.

“You’re in luck, like I said,” Jooheon says, voice dripping with sarcasm, and Minhyuk realises he doesn’t know what to expect, except that he should probably pray upon his stars that Kihyun is a kind superior that isn’t much of a bully.

Jooheon brings them back to the conference room and they return to signing off on papers and confidentiality agreements and scanning words in a sea of letters, digesting as much information as their saturated minds would let them.

They break for lunch, and Minhyuk and Changkyun find themselves a secluded spot in a nearby cafe, continuing a previous conversation on university and law professors, and which area they would like to specialise in. Changkyun says civil, and Minhyuk says criminal, and they promise to look out for each other in the firm.

“So. That Kihyun guy.” Changkyun is munching on a sandwich and Minhyuk is absentmindedly looking through the messages his mother has sent him, cheering him on for his first day at work.

“Yeah?”

“He seems a bit… scary.”

Minhyuk shrugs, feels none of the terror that Changkyun seemed to have experienced. “Really? I thought he was okay. Looks like a difficult person to work with though. He looks very… individualistic.”

“Hey, he was hellbent on having you work under his mentorship though. You might end up as his personal associate.” Changkyun resorts to playing with his food now that he’s full, and Minhyuk swats his hand away from the sandwich.

Minhyuk grimaces. “God, I hope not. I have a knack for picking out people’s dominant traits, and he literally screams ‘Kind-of-an-asshole-to-work-with’. He looked like he was 120% sure of everything he was doing. People with that amount of confidence intimidate me.”

“I think you meant to summarise that whole chunk into a ‘he looks like a cocky bastard’.”

Minhyuk guffaws. “He’s not scary, but _that_ , he looks like.”

After lunch, Jooheon breaks the news, and Minhyuk braces himself for it when he announces that Changkyun would be moving under the mentorship of Mr. Son, the managing partner who had grown a sudden interest in the newbies, and Jooheon, who is also under his mentorship, admits that he could really use some of the help.

Not surprisingly, Jooheon sighs as he relates that Minhyuk would be working under Yoo Kihyun, and while he isn’t a bad egg and is actually a pretty nice guy, is very demanding and hard to please when it comes to anything to do with work.

“He’ll take advantage of you whenever he can, so you have to learn to say no. But I mean, despite everything I say about the guy, he’s brilliant. You’re going to learn so damn much from him, and hopefully some of those nitpicking skills rub off on you. You have no idea how many times he’s saved this firm from the throes of hell by just being meticulous.”

Jooheon sighs again, like he’s about to start another wave of badmouthing Kihyun, but stops himself. He knows what it feels like to be really annoyed at someone, but not being able to point out more of their flaws, because their lack of personality is made up for in their professionalism, and Kihyun seems to have a very strong work ethic, because Jooheon mutes himself before he can go on.

“God, I hate him, but he’s just so capable.” Is what Jooheon says through a clenched jaw, and Minhyuk just nods dumbly, both petrified and anticipatory.

He returns home that evening and mentally prepares himself for what could only be a battle at work after their three day-long induction process, under the mentorship of an ‘extremely difficult but competent’ Yoo Kihyun.


	2. cyclical hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minhyuk didn't slog his guts off in law school only to be Kihyun's errand boy.

Minhyuk had been hyping himself up for the first day of work. Maybe a little too much, because he’s standing in front of the lift, with his new access card, his smiling face plastered on it, and he doesn’t really know what to expect.

 _Oh no_ , Minhyuk thinks, _it’s the jitters._

The jitters is something Minhyuk has before a presentation, the symptoms of the condition are the need to jiggle his arm, snap his fingers and bob his head to an unheard tune. Basically, general jerky movements and physical activity to distract him from the impending need for stellar performance.

Minhyuk aces it in the end, of course, as always, but those have been situations where he had spent a copious amount of time rehearsing his lines, his strides in front of the screen, down to the degree of his twitches and smiles, so that he looks friendly, welcoming, confident, not too much to look arrogant or over-enthusiastic.

It takes a lot of skill -- mastering the art of standing in front of an audience -- and while it’s not like he currently has a lecture theatre full of 300 students waiting in anticipation for him to present, the pressure is suffocating.

He inhales, and attempts to calm whatever nerves he has left, letting out a shaky breath as he steps towards the lift, sandwiched between a truckload of other people in smart suits and ties, and he feels like a pup in the jungle again.

He thinks he catches eye of a familiar figure, and it takes every last bit of effort in him to shout out an ‘excuse me!’, ‘please let me through!’, elbowing men and women who click their tongues at him in utter disapproval.

Sprinting across the lobby floor and against the general flow of the crowd, Minhyuk trails the last sighting of the man, eyes eager and his heart is beating furiously against his chest.

He pushes the door to the stairwell and there he is, his new boss, in a crisp, black suit, and he looks more amused than surprised at Minhyuk’s presence.

“Mr. Yoo!” Minhyuk exclaims, realising that it sounds more like a shriek than an enthusiastic expression of glee, and he lowers his gaze to his well-polished shoes.

Kihyun doesn’t appear to be offended, nor tickled, nor anything really, and his expression is unreadable. The silence pulls on for a few seconds before Kihyun starts his ascent, and Minhyuk struggles to follow.

“Well, good morning to you too,” Kihyun mutters under his breath, and Minhyuk is terrified out of his wits. _Shit_ , he’s fucked up early in the morning.

He takes two steps at a time when Kihyun takes one, but for someone with relatively short legs, Kihyun is quick on his feet, and Minhyuk’s lungs are burning.

“G-good morning Mr. Yoo. How has your morning been?” Minhyuk makes small talk, because it’s the only way he knows how to make conversation, and notes the grimace on Kihyun’s face.

“Unbearable.” There is a tinge of annoyance in his voice and Minhyuk fears that it’s because of him, but then it seems to simmer down. Kihyun is focussed on staring at his feet -- left foot up, right foot follows -- while Minhyuk is trying his best to not speak, because he can hardly even breathe.

Storey 4. Minhyuk thinks he sees stars and he almost tumbles down all 8 flights of stairs if Kihyun hadn’t reached out to grab him by the arm, staring silently as Minhyuk regains his balance and sense of bearing.

“How do you --” he puffs, catching his breath, “how do you not look like you’re dying?”

Kihyun narrows his eyes, then shrugs. “It’s called exercise,” he says with a hiked brow. “You should try it some time.”

Minhyuk almost scowls, then he remembers that Kihyun’s his boss, and he’s probably allowed a few comments on his lack of physical fitness. It’s not like he’s wrong, anyway.

Minhyuk swallows, and is immediately aware that it’s a mistake, because the lump of saliva scrapes against his dry throat and he feels like throwing up.

Kihyun looks at him. “Are you sure you’re okay? You don’t look so good.”

Minhyuk grins, hands on his knees as he’s bending over, still desperately trying to pull himself together, and lifts a hand. “Yeah, yeah I’m fine. You’re _fit_.”

He says it like it’s a surprise, and Kihyun cocks up an eyebrow. “To make up for what I don’t have in height. Or frame.”

The honesty takes Minhyuk aback, but Kihyun just shrugs, his hand still on his arm, and they take turns looking at the contact. “Are you sure you’re not going to fall? Because I actually have to get to work.”

The embarrassment is Minhyuk’s, the blonde-haired boy turning pink as he nods, and Kihyun loses his grip on him, his arm hanging loosely beside. “Th -- thank you, Mr. Yoo!”

Kihyun cocks up an eyebrow, a growingly familiar look, as Minhyuk is made to observe, and he blinks. Kihyun says nothing about his blazing enthusiasm. “Well, this is your first day working under me, yeah?”

“Yes, Sir.”

Kihyun nods half-heartedly, and clears his throat as he sweeps his fringe away from his eyes. He’d barely broken a sweat, and Minhyuk is standing here looking like something the cat dragged in.

“You can start off both our days by bringing me a cup of coffee when we reach the office. I’ll show you where your desk is, and we can start work. I guess.”

Minhyuk blinks for a few times to make sure he’s heard him right, and then he remembers the main reason why Kihyun had chosen to take him under his wing in the first place was because of his coffee-making skills.

It’s fine; he doesn’t mind. He just hopes it’s not a recurring task he’ll have to do for as long as he’s under Kihyun’s mentorship. (Oh boy, was he wrong.)

“Yes, sure!” He is beaming, his eyes sparkling with excitement (his friends tell him he has a tendency to do that when he’s very hyped about something), and Kihyun returns his vivacity with a deadpan.

Minhyuk’s smiles dissipates a bit as he reins himself in. He supposes it’s something he has to get used to, slowly.

*****

His desk is really more like a cubicle. It’s conveniently located near Kihyun’s office, which has glass windows and glass doors. Sitting in the middle of the room is a large wooden desk, and there is a rack of CDs behind, next to the shelf filled with encyclopaedic-sized law reference books.

As Minhyuk draws out the company hierarchy again in his mind, he’s aware that Kihyun probably shouldn’t be getting an office as nice as this.

His mind kindly provides the statement ‘Chae is my side hoe’. The word ‘billables’ also resurfaces for a second.

He’s carrying the mug of freshly-made coffee carefully back to Kihyun’s office when there’s a lanky figure hovering before him.

Eyes still trained on his beverage, Minhyuk mumbles an apology and attempts to sneak his way past. It doesn’t work. It still towers before him, and shifts itself when Minhyuk veers right, left when he goes left.

Minhyuk frowns, lifting his gaze to stare at the man in annoyance, and is a little startled, beginning to wonder if this law firm is secretly operating as a modelling agency in its backroom.

He’s tall, huge eyes, well-defined nose, a pair of thick, curved lips, protruding out in a way that Minhyuk reckons is unintentional. His limbs are long, his double eyelids so deep they make him look half-asleep.

Upon seeing Minhyuk’s face, he offers a lukewarm smile, which is instantly better than Kihyun’s permanent impassiveness. Minhyuk won’t admit that his little heart does a quick skip. It’s not workplace-appropriate to ogle at some (gorgeous) guy on his first day.

“Where are _you_ going with that mug? You look nervous about something. Planning to scald someone with it?” He asks, his lips twitching with what can only be read as amusement.

Minhyuk makes a face, slightly affronted. He wants to take his ogling back, if he can. “No? Also, that’s hardly the first assumption you’d make of a nervous-looking person hold a mug that is about 98% full?”

The man laughs, rolling his shoulders in his well-ironed suit, and Minhyuk tries so hard to not scowl. He wears his emotions on his sleeves, a sore spot for someone training to be a lawyer.

There is a pregnant pause as the taller man looks at Minhyuk from top to bottom, his eyes scanning him with such scrutiny he can’t help but squirm. He wonders if his tie is crooked.

The man’s eyes land on his access card hanging by his lanyard, and his eyes grow wider suddenly.

Minhyuk can almost see the lightbulb atop his head turning on as realisation dawns over him. “Lee Minhyuk, right? You’re the new junior solicitor working under Kihyun?” he asks, snapping his fingers as he speaks.

Minhyuk frowns, but nods and tips his head anyway. “Yes?”

The tall man throws his head back, and he laughs, bright and carefree. “So you’re the new guy under his mentorship.” He pauses for a second. “Yeah, I see why you’d want to scald him, then.”

Minhyuk narrows his eyes. Okay, so Kihyun isn’t the firm’s Mr Popular, and according to Jooheon he can be a little overbearing, but surely he doesn’t warrant hate from just some random guy walking around in the office?

The man just smiles, revealing nothing, and cocks his head in the direction of where Minhyuk was heading. The newbie just blinks a couple of times in hesitation before walking away.

Minhyuk stops in his tracks when he realises that the tall man is trailing after him with his hands behind his back. He frowns, and turns around to look at him.

“Can I help you?” he asks, very confused and mildly displeased, but the tall man presses his lips together in a very prominent pout. “No. I just need to speak to Kihyun for a second, that’s all.”

“Oh,” Minhyuk says, and gives it another half a second of hesitation before he returns to delivering the coffee, staring as the liquid sloshes dangerously near the rim of the mug.

He knocks on the ajar door of Kihyun’s office, and Kihyun looks up to see Minhyuk by the door. His expression morphs into something of surprise and irritation, and Minhyuk is slightly confused.

He only realises that the annoyance is directed at the man on his heels when Kihyun barks out a “what the hell are you doing here”, and the stranger muffles a laugh.

“Thank you,” Kihyun says when Minhyuk places the mug on the table, his gaze darting to Minhyuk and his eyebrow disappearing into his bangs. Kihyun picks it up and blows on it softly before taking a small sip, and an approving hum leaves his lips.

Minhyuk doesn’t know why, but he beams.

The gangling stranger hovers by the doorway, uncertain as to what his place is in the unfamiliar office, but finally decides on staying where he is, shoving his hands into his pockets, blocking out most of the space and sound from outside of their room.

Minhyuk is unsure if he should take his leave, but no one seems to be chasing him out just yet, so he stays, hiding in a corner of the office and willing himself to turn invisible.

“I hear from Jooheon that you’re introducing me as your side hoe.” There is nothing but amusement in his voice, and Minhyuk suddenly realises who he is.

 _Shit_. Is this the guy they call the Legendary Chae Hyungwon™? The one and only Chae Hyungwon whose cases they quote endlessly during crim law modules? Surely Minhyuk would have recognised him on TV with Hyungwon’s more public cases, but the image never clicked until now. Yes, of course, he remembered distinctly scoffing at how a flower boy was the nation’s most sought-after criminal lawyer, though Minhyuk is not far off from that label himself.

He supposes it had been his crippling existential crises and a boatload of envy that had prompted that thought in his first year of law school. The thought in his current situation only serves as insolence towards his new boss.

Somehow Minhyuk finds it slightly disconcerting to have only recognised him as ‘Kihyun’s alleged side hoe’.

Minhyuk feels like burying his face in a pit when he remembers how sassy he was to his boss. Hyungwon is more than just _his boss_. Hyungwon is _everybody’s boss_ , and he had just been so snappy at him just a few minutes ago.

God, Minhyuk thinks, just spare me from my own embarrassment and transport me into the depths of the Earth, please.

“Bite me. I’ll stop saying it the minute I realise it isn’t true.” Kihyun is not threatened, not even the slightest, and Minhyuk doesn’t understand. Hyungwon is many many ranks ahead of Kihyun in the company’s hierarchy, and no one should be allowed to talk to Hyungwon like this. (Except for Minhyuk, two minutes ago, because he’s a massive idiot.)

Hyungwon laughs, exasperated. “Look, the only reason why you get the shit you want over here is because of --”

“My billables,” Kihyun completes his sentence for him, a smug grin on his face. “I know.”

“Exactly. So don’t you for a moment think it’s because you have a great personality or some bullshit like that. Because you don’t have one.”

Kihyun sniffs, smile still on his face. “Trust me, I know an asshole when I see one in the mirror.”

Hyungwon nods. “Glad there’s something we can see eye-to-eye about, at least.”

Kihyun scoffs, but it’s lighthearted, and Minhyuk can tell the amount of jest in their banter, throwing around insults like they don’t matter.

Hyungwon sighs. “Look. I know you’re a good lawyer and you help us out a lot. I’m also happy to accede to most of your requests in private. But when you say things like that to rookies. What image does that give me? Or us? Or this firm? They’ll think we’re just mucking around.”

Kihyun stares him down, swallowing as he does. It’s not difficult to tell that this lecture doesn’t settle well with him, especially not in front of his new trainee.

Minhyuk gulps, trying to be as discreet as possible, but it’s not like it does much, because neither Kihyun nor Hyungwon are actually acknowledging his presence. Damn. He really should have made a run for it while he still could.

Kihyun’s gaze is still challenging, like he’s willing himself to say something extremely rude to Hyungwon, but Minhyuk blinks repeatedly when Kihyun gives up, diverting his attention to the papers on his table instead.

“Yeah. Okay, makes sense. I’ll take note of it.” He doesn’t apologise, but somehow it sounds like one, and Minhyuk takes a mental note to use it in the future. Hyungwon seems content with his reply, and there is a smug look on his face. Kihyun doesn’t spare it much thought, and there they are, standing on the edges of an imaginary triangle, silence engulfing them all.

Kihyun doesn’t seem to mind the silence, though he’s in the comfort of his office, flipping through paperwork, and Hyungwon doesn’t appear to have the intention to leave. Minhyuk thinks it’s appropriate for him to speak up.

“Mr. Yoo, do you have any tasks for me?” He asks with a hunched back, Kihyun still staring a little too hard at his work, so much so that Minhyuk thinks he might go cross-eyed.

“Yeah, uh, can you photocopy five sets of these for me?” Kihyun reaches over to the other end of his desk and picks up what can only be a very large stack of documents. Minhyuk has to take in a deep breath. He’s going to have a long, unpleasant time in front of the photocopy machine today.

“Sure, Mr. Yoo, anything else?” Minhyuk asks, and Kihyun seems to mull over his offer for about half a minute, before shaking his head. “Nothing at the moment. I might have some stuff for you when you’re back from that,” he points at the pile of papers in Minhyuk’s hands, “but I would assume that would take a while. Go to lunch whenever. I just need those documents by the end of the workday.”

“Okay, Mr. Yoo.” Minhyuk bows as he takes his leave, mountain of documents almost spilling from his arms. He hears the door click behind him when he leaves, and Hyungwon is commencing a conversation with Kihyun, who listens to him with the same half-hearted look of interest.

*****

He’s just dropped by Changkyun’s table and agreed on 1PM for lunch together before he reclaims his permanent position before the xerox machine.

He feels a little envious when Changkyun tells him that his mentor Hyunwoo had brought him to see a new client, and while Changkyun hadn’t done much other than sit by the sidelines, he’s certain it was more eye-opening than printing five sets of a 386-paged contract.

A sigh leaves his lips as he slouches by the machine, listening to the mechanic slog, the ink cartridges settling into place, the swish-swoosh of letters being printed on paper. He allows his mind to travel to Andromeda for but a second when there is a gentle tap on the machine, and Minhyuk is jolted out of his reverie.

Same tall nose, large sleepy eyes, only now there is a certain degree of messiness in him. Perhaps his mussed up hair? Or his slightly crooked tie? It’s only been two hours since he’s last seen him, but Hyungwon looks like he’s had a trying morning.

“Mr. Chae.” Minhyuk bows, and there is a hint of a smirk on Hyungwon’s lips that Minhyuk doesn’t understand why, but he would love to wipe off with a dirty dishcloth.

“Hey. Minhyuk, yeah?”

Minhyuk nods, his mop of blonde hair striking.

Hyungwon rubs at his nape, almost like he doesn’t know how to start a conversation. “Sorry for dumping you on him. Kihyun. He can be very convincing with his… numbers. And he’s really a nice guy, beneath that irritating face and irksome behaviour.”

Right. Hyungwon was the one who gave the green light for Minhyuk to work under him.

Minhyuk raises both eyebrows. “Wow. I wonder why I can’t bring myself to believe you?” There’s really nothing inherently wrong with Kihyun, but Minhyuk’s legs are numb from standing next to the roaring machine for the past 2 hours, and he’s hungry, cranky, and has spent most of his time thinking about where to best bury Kihyun’s tiny body.

So far, the remote patch of dirt not far from his house way back in Gwangju sounds the most promising.

Hyungwon cocks an eyebrow, and realisation casts its light on Minhyuk, slowly but surely. Hyungwon is name partner of this firm. And he’s just tried being smart with him. Again.

 _Oh god, oh god_. The jitters make their grand entrance, and the junior solicitor starts jiggling his leg as his gaze goes unfocused. He should apologise. He’s supposed to apologise, but the words don’t come out, and he’s just staring at Hyungwon looking like a deer caught in the headlights.

He doesn’t know what he was expecting, but it was certainly not Hyungwon breaking into laughter, covering his grin with the back of his hand.

“You’re right. He’s an ass. But he’s also very capable, and I’m sure you’ll learn a lot from him. Let me know if you really can’t put up with him, though. I’ll know to move you elsewhere and spare you the agony.”

Minhyuk is tempted to take up his offer right now, but it would make him look so cowardly, to surrender on Day 1, just because he was made to photocopy 1,930 pages in one day.

“Thank you, Mr. Chae. I’ll let you know if it gets too much.”

Minhyuk thinks Hyungwon winks at him, but he can’t really tell, and it seems unlikely, since winking at your subordinates doesn’t sound all that appropriate for the workplace.

“Come to me any time. I’m here to listen to grievances and make sure people don’t go for each other’s necks at work. Can’t wait to see your contributions to the company, Minhyuk.” Hyungwon says all this with a smile on his face, very friendly, very warm, very different from the way Kihyun had introduced him into his first day of work.

It sends a fuzzy sensation through Minhyuk, and the newbie smiles wide, nodding and bowing altogether.

“Thank you, Sir. I’ll make sure to do my best.”

Hyungwon grins. “Welcome to Son & Chae Partners, buddy.”

*****

“That’s because when you’re managing partner, you manage people, not cases.” Changkyun says this when Minhyuk tells him about Hyungwon, and how he seems like such a nice person despite being an eminent figure in the field of law.

Changkyun has his mouth full of caesar salad, and Minhyuk reaches out with a napkin to dab at the sauce at the side of his lips.

He’s only just known Changkyun for a grand total of four days (three full days of 8-hour inductions can really help with bonding relationships), but there’s something about his demeanour that makes Minhyuk want to look over him like a big brother.

Minhyuk makes an _oooh_ sound, at which Changkyun just rolls his eyes. “I took a business mod because I wanted to open my firm in the future, and like Tutorial Uno they teach us this stuff. When you’re a boss, you don’t manage the business, you manage the people, who’ll run the business for you.”

“You sound like you know your shit.”

Changkyun’s eyes disappear into crescents as he pulls on a smile. “I have the talent of doing that by pure regurgitation of random information I hear. It makes me sound a lot smarter than I actually am.”

Minhyuk laughs in response, and then pokes at his own salad absentmindedly. Changkyun shares with him how Hyunwoo had sat him down and explained what they do in the company, went on a philosophical spiel about morality and justice before letting Changkyun go for lunch.

“So I think all I have waiting in store for me when I go back is just sitting in front of a screen playing Solitaire. I’m not complaining, to be honest,” Changkyun says, and Minhyuk chuckles.

He wishes he was as content as Changkyun when it comes to having no tasks. Minhyuk is restless. He is constantly on the go, waiting and gearing up for something good, and he could never be satisfied with the drag of the day with nothing to do.

They part ways at the end of their hour-long break, and Minhyuk huffs as he finishes the last few hundred pages of the contract, his neck sore from craning over the machine.

*****

“Come in.” Kihyun is not looking at him, just frowning at a few pages on his table, flipping through them quickly, eyes scanning across the text.

Minhyuk groans as he struggles to balance the stack of documents, finally placing them on Kihyun’s coffee table, sweat breaking at his forehead. The black-haired man takes a brief look at the documents, then at Minhyuk, and returns to his papers. “Yeah, there’s good. Put a paper weight on it in case it gets everywhere. The pages are in order, yeah?”

Minhyuk is still trying to catch his breath. Really, he didn’t think being a solicitor was going to be such a physically strenuous occupation.

“Yes, Mr. Yoo.” He manages to spit out on one of his exhales, and the lawyer just nods his head minimally.

“Is there --”

“Yeah, can you get me another mug of coffee?”

“Sure, Mr. Yoo, is there --”

“You know, yes, I’m glad you asked.” Kihyun looks at him finally, though he looks through him instead of at him, and he fishes out his leather wallet from his back pocket. He pulls out a white card and Minhyuk strides over to accept it, and he can’t help the look of confusion when he realises that it is a name card for a laundry service not far from their office.

“Sorry, Mr. Yoo, I don’t --”

“Can you go collect my laundry for me? This case is driving me nuts and I really need to look at it a bit more. I need you to go get me my suits for tomorrow.”

Minhyuk doesn’t know how to react, because there really isn’t a logical reaction for this other than an enraged scream at Kihyun’s face. But the man is quickly devoting himself back to his work, his gaze trained on the sea of letters, and Minhyuk stands there, at a complete loss.

“Laundry?” He asks again, as if he’s heard it wrong the first time, and Kihyun looks mildly surprised at his response. “Do I need to spell out the word for you, or get you a Korean dictionary? You _are_ Korean, right?”

“Yes, but --”

“Well, then, you understand me just fine. Coffee, then laundry. Thank you.”

It is not up for debate, apparently, and no matter how long Minhyuk stands there looking aggrieved, Kihyun is completely swallowed up by his work, and doesn’t bother with Minhyuk at all, not even when the junior solicitor had slammed the door shut on his way out.

*****

Changkyun offers a sympathetic pat on his shoulder when Minhyuk lets out a piteous cry at the audacity of being ordered around like a servant. He’s not his secretary, not his assistant.

He’s here to _learn_ , from this supposedly very professional and amazing and capable lawyer who knows what he’s doing, not to pick up his stupid ass suits from the laundry service and get judged by the lady at the counter who asks Minhyuk if he’s Kihyun’s new domestic helper.

Now, Minhyuk understands that being ordered around when you’re a newbie is relatively common, and every job comes with hardships, but the difference is that he was hired to be a solicitor, not to be someone’s coffee boy.

When he’d complained about a lack of tasks, he didn’t think it was going to be running his mentor’s dumbass menial errands. He’d expected something more important, something of weight, something that _meant something_ , but instead he’s here, being his coffee boy, laundry boy, photocopy boy.

“I didn’t study that many years in law school just to put up with this utter disrespect,” Minhyun whines, and Changkyun can only provide him with a consoling little shrug and words that mean nothing. He knows just how much of an insult it must be to Minhyuk, to be treated like a servant boy when he had come up tops in his graduating cohort.

So he lets Minhyuk complain about Kihyun on a daily basis while Minhyuk grapples with himself and his hurt pride, trying his best to not give in to his temptations of actually burying Kihyun near his Gwangju house.

*****

It didn't matter that Minhyuk had graduated _magna cum laude_ from the most prestigious university in the whole nation, and the fact that the boy picked things up quicker than any other associate in the firm unfazed Kihyun.

It didn't even make a dent of a good impression, and Minhyuk wonders if he's done anything wrong, or maybe he's just done nothing right so far. It's difficult to tell, since all he's been made to do is make Kihyun his coffee and send and collect his suits to and from the dry cleaner's.

Any hint of him working in a legal profession is swept away quickly by Kihyun, who takes pride in looking over the most trivial of documents, almost like he's dead set on Minhyuk doing nothing but running his errands.

Minhyuk has to beg Changkyun to share his first case, just to get his bearings straight, just to remind himself that he's not just here to photocopy documents and bring his mentor his caffeine fix.

The days pass by slowly, the general flow of the day looks a little like this:

9AM: Minhyuk arrives at his cubicle and tidies documents that don’t need tidying because they don’t exist

9:15AM: Kihyun calls him on the phone in his cubicle, ordering a mug of coffee

9:20AM: Minhyuk enters Kihyun’s office with his coffee, stands beside him awaiting his evaluation on his coffee-making skills, and is asked to make another one if he isn’t happy with it (because Minhyuk may or may not have put in a spoonful of salt one time purely out of spite)

10:30AM: Second cup of coffee, then Minhyuk plays Minesweeper on his computer, his leg jiggling under the table the whole time

11:10AM: Some messed up pile of 100+ pages of a contract that needs six copies

1PM: Lunch with Changkyun, lots of complaining

2PM: Back to the Xerox machine, who Minhyuk is developing a blossoming relationship with, considering how often he leans on it for support and listens to its tired wails of relentless toil

3PM: Some other higher-up will make him photocopy their documents too

3:30PM: Photocopying is pretty much done, so third cup of coffee. On every other day, that’s when he collects Kihyun’s laundry

4:30PM: Returning to the office with Kihyun’s suits, drops them in an inelegant pile by his office couch

5PM: Heading home with his mind filled with zero information and knowledge, perhaps only knowing how to whip the Xerox machine into functionality and being a master at Minesweeper, which is not much of a career option

And the cycle continues for the next few days, the process mind-numbingly painful, and Minhyuk feels it every second of his time in the office, even in his time at home, wondering if he would ever result in anything.

He doesn’t complain when his paycheck comes in for the week, but he feels like he doesn’t deserve it. It’s not exactly like he can work harder at using the photocopy machine, or put in more effort in making Kihyun’s coffee.

He feels a sense of lethargy wash over him, and wonders if he should talk to Hyungwon about it, maybe escape from the clutches of Yoo Kihyun for good.

*****

Minhyuk realises Kihyun doesn’t even know his name. It’s exactly two weeks of working together, and the phone on his desk rings. He picks it up, and doesn’t need to guess to know who it is, because it’s the 6th time he’s rung his cubicle to ask for ‘another cup of coffee’ or ‘some paper for my printer’ or, most ridiculously, ‘I’m feeling peckish, can you get me some snacks’.

He didn’t slog his ass through law school to fetch someone their afternoon sweet treat.

“Hey, um, what’s that, um, can you get me the reference text on property rights from the library?”

Minhyuk inhales, feeling an impending headache. He knows he’s under his mentorship and that he’s a junior, but he really needs to start standing up for himself.

The proposition of scalding Kihyun with his coffee as suggested by Mr. Chae on Day 1 doesn’t sound so bad now.

“Minhyuk. Lee Minhyuk.”

There is silence, and Kihyun mumbles a “what” under his breath.

“My name. Lee Minhyuk. Is my name.”

More silence.

“I -- I knew that.”

Minhyuk rolls his eyes. “You’ve not addressed me by my name even once over the two weeks we’ve worked -- or, _you’ve_ worked, considering all I’ve been doing is fetching stuff for you like a trained dog.”

There is a sharp inhale on the other end. Minhyuk is suddenly aware of what he’s just said, and his eyes grow wider. Did he really just --

“Okay, cool, _Lee Minhyuk_. You want to work? You want something to do other than fetching stuff for me? I’ll give you a case. You have exactly 14 days to sort out your points for argument. If you can’t do a good job of it, I’m reverting you back to coffee duty, because you don’t deserve to be working _with_ me, or _under_ me, for that matter.”

Minhyuk blinks. Is he really giving him a chance to work on something on his own, something that isn’t just being Kihyun’s fucking nanny?

“Do you want an invitation to my office so I can pass you the case, or?” Kihyun sounds frustrated over the phone, and Minhyuk has to scramble to get up, almost falling over the leg of his chair.

His co-workers look at him weirdly, but Minhyuk doesn’t care. God, anything, _anything_ would be better than this horrible cyclical hell of nothingness. He’ll seize his chance when he’s given it.

“Yes, Mr. Yoo, be there in a second!” He almost hollers into the phone, and slams it back into its stand, willing his tangled feet to cooperate as he dashes into Kihyun’s office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hah you didn't expect me to update this fic did you! this really just feels like a filler! i'm sorry if there's not much content here at all but i wanted to just introduce hyungwon as the not-dick (haH WHAT A CHANGE FOR ONCE) and how kihyun is the true ass (no surprise here at all tbh) to minhyuk  
> hopefully the next chapter will be better! i had every mind to just skip by the whole kihyun tormenting minhyuk by making him do his dumb menial household tasks but i could! never! spare a chance to expand on how minhyuk is genuinely annoyed at kihyun. i hope it helps to at least lay a bit of a foundation into their dynamics! seems a bit silly if minhyuk were to be like ugh i hate kihyun but i didn't fully explain why he does! he does because kihyun is an ass, and poor minhyuk doesn't need to put up with his shit
> 
> anyway, happy new year to everyone! i hope 2018 will be amazing to all of you, and hopefully i will have more content to share in the new year <3 thank you so much for your support thus far, and i hope that you'll continue showing your support in the new year!  
> 

**Author's Note:**

> note: am not a lawyer/law student, do not have any working knowledge of the legal system and firms and ranks and whatnot, other than a copious amount of Suits  
> apologies in advance if i mess things up and get confused/am not consistent with legal systems from around the world! 
> 
> Comments and kudos are always appreciated!  
> come find me: @kihyunghyuks


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